1. Freezing a candle won’t actually make it last longer. There are a lot of rumors that say freezing a candle before lighting it will make it last longer. However, according to the National Candle Association, though it may initially burn slower than a room-temperature candle, this effect will not last long as the candle returns to room temperature.

2. If your candle has started tunneling, you can still salvage it! Cover the top of your jar candle with foil, then cut a hole in the center where the wick/flame will be. This encourages the hard outer wax to soften and melt evenly. Be sure to let the candle burn for several hours with the foil lid to ensure the whole top layer is liquid.

3. A candle shouldn’t produce smoke when it’s burning. If it is smoking, maybe it’s been hanging out with the wrong crowd, and you should talk to it about its priorities in life. More likely, though, the wick is too long. Put the flame out, wait for the wick to cool, and trim it to about a quarter of an inch (about 6mm) in length. Additionally, others claim that freezing the wax cracks it and damages the candle. So, whatever few extra minutes you might gain from freezing your candle, it’s probably not worth it.

4. You should never blow out a candle. Blowing out a candle produces lots of soot and smoke, and you also risk blowing droplets of hot liquid wax in the surrounding area, which might land on the furniture or someone’s eyeball. Instead, according to the European Candle Association, the best way to put out a candle is to use a candle snuffer, which puts the flame out by depriving it of oxygen. Or you can use something inflammable to dip the wick into the wet wax and immediately straighten it again. The wax will protect the wick from crumbling when it’s cool again.

5. You may have been burning your precious candles incorrectly all this time. The first time you light a candle, you should let it burn long enough so that the whole top layer of wax becomes liquid, which could take several hours depending on the size of the candle.